The need for an alternative to existing chemical insect control measures is becoming increasingly apparent as insect resistance to pesticides increases, unintended effects of pesticides are acknowledged and environmental considerations generally achieve more prominence. The consequent cost of control measures, and losses suffered, makes some previously profitable agricultural industries non-viable.
Recently, there has been a renewal of interest in the pharmacological and chemical examination of venoms, particularly spider venoms, and the toxins they contain.
Some authors.sup.1, 2, 3 have proposed development of insecticidal materials from spider venoms as a general proposition, based on the ability of some spider venoms to kill certain insects, or in reference to low molecular weight reversibly-acting polyamine toxins.
The moth Heliothis armigera is the major pest of field crops in Australia. H. armigera is a migratory moth, the larvae of which feed on a wide range of agricultural crops. The genus Heliothis has worldwide distribution. H. zea occurs in the Americas from Canada to Uruguay. H. armigera, which is very similar, is found in southern Europe, Africa, the Near and Middle East, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and many of the Pacific Islands. In Australia, H. armigera infests and causes serious damage to cotton, tobacco, tomato, green bean, sweet corn, lucerne, soybean, sorghum, field pea, linseed, safflower, rapeseed, sunflower and field lupins. However, in terms of costs of H. armigera and losses due to it, cotton is by far the most important of these crops.